Sly Cooper: Shades of Orange and Grey
by dragonthief
Summary: Alternate version of the events following Thieves in Time.
1. Chapter 1

**I was going to post this earlier this week, but my neighbor shot my year old puppy to death, and injured one of the others. The shock still hasn't worn off yet. And I'm trying to keep busy so I'm not just sitting around crying over Lil' Trooper. God I miss that little guy. **

The first thing his mind registered was a dull throbbing pain jack hammering his skull. As he slowly regained consciousness, a wave of nausea washed over him. He carefully opened his eyes and pushed himself into a sitting position. Holding his head in his hands he tried to piece together the circumstances that had left him in his current situation.

Confusion clouded his thoughts. Looking around for a familiar sight to indicate his location he noticed his cane lying on the ground a few feet away. Trying to stand he managed to get as far as his knees before the nausea returned and forced him back onto the ground.

Curled up in the fetal position, he waited for the pain ease. As the pain relaxed its grip on him, he pushed himself onto his hands and knees, and crawled over to the wall nearest to him. Clutching his head he leaned on the wall, and finally managed to get to his feet. He was in an alley. A familiar alley he had been in and around many times over the years, it was just a few blocks from home. Something was different about it, he paused trying to figure out what was amiss. Unable to pinpoint it, he shrugged his shoulders, and slowly walked over to retrieve his heirloom cane.

After grabbing his cane he froze in his tracks as the memory of a battle hard fought and won flashed across his mind. He muttered, "Le Paradox you bastard, I owe you." Thoughts of revenge danced around in his head. It would serve the skunk right if he just let Carmelita handle him. "Carmelita… she must be worried, after the blimp exploded she might fear the worst. I've gotta get home and let her know I'm alive."

He could call the guys from the apartment he shared with Carmelita. Maybe she would feel sorry for him, and let him come home. The thought of a gratefully sympathetic vixen sent him into a mad dash for hopefully open arms. Charging down the alley, pushing past the pain, he climbed over the dead end's brick wall. A couple of alley ways later and his target building was in view.

Being so close to reaching his goal gave him an adrenaline rush, as he grabbed the drain pipe, and rocketed upwards. Grinning the biggest grin he could manage, while gripping his cane between his teeth, his thoughts traveled to a certain vixen. 'As pathetic as I must look she just has to forgive me.'

Hopping from the pipe to the buildings' ledge, easing around the corner, and onto an all too familiar balcony, he paused to brace himself for a possibly violent reaction from a fiery fox.

Taking a deep breath to steady himself, he crept over to the balcony's French doors.

What Sly Cooper saw inside devastated him.

**I don't own Sly Cooper or the rest of the gang. Like I said earlier, I'm just trying to distract myself from thinking about all the things that are still too painful to do without Lil' T. Thanks for reading. **


	2. Chapter 2

**I don't own Sly Cooper or the rest of the gang. That being said thanks for reading. The last week has been rough, so the chapters are a little short.**

**Thanks for the reviews. **

**And thank you Storyus Raccoonus for the chatting back and forth about Trooper.**

A disheveled raccoon stood on a balcony in Paris. His mouth agape as he stared on in shock, Sly Cooper was confused. Eyes transfixed on the scene inside, he suddenly felt very unstable. Fighting the urge to throw up in the balcony's potted plants, he closed his eyes and gave his head a quick shake. Taking a deep breath he steadied himself and opened his eyes.

The scene was the same. Inside the apartment he shared with the love of his life, was a fox. But it wasn't Carmelita. And the fox sure wasn't female. Inside was a muscular orange tod with dark hair atop his head and a matching patch of it on his chin.

Rage was quickly clouding the raccoon's thoughts. 'Maybe I've got the wrong apartment. But, the furniture is the same. And the pictures of Carmelita's family are still on the wall. What the hell is going on!', the master thief's brain was screaming at him.

Oblivious to the ticking time bomb, just a few feet away from him, the fox continued his workout moving from curling dumbbells, to a pushup position on the floor.

Unable to watch any longer, Sly turned to head back into the Paris night. As he reached the rail he paused. If he had been replaced by another man he at least deserved to hear it from her own lips. How could she move on so quickly. Was she cheating on him during their relationship? He just had to know, and if he couldn't confront her, he would get his answers from the girlfriend stealing jerk himself.

Heading for the door he put on his most annoying grin and let himself inside. His entrance not getting the reaction that he had hoped for, he tapped the tip of his cane on the floor. Still not getting the stranger's attention Sly cleared his throat.

Continuing with his pushups the male fox grunted. "What the hell do you want?"

Annoyed the raccoon smirked. "Luckily for you it's not your life. You really should be more observant."

Jumping to his feet, the fox grinned. "And you really should work on your manners. It's not polite to break in to someone else's home. I could legally kill you."

"Is that any way to treat a guest?" Sly responded with a slight snarl.

"Guests use the door, and they usually knock." The fox crossed his arms over his chest.

"You must not know who I am?"

"I don't suppose I do."

The two stared at one another for what seemed like an eternity.

After a long silence, a smug, knowing grin appeared on the fox's muzzle, as the light bulb in his head switched on.

"You must be a friend of the Inspector."

His usually calm demeanor threatening to abandon him, Sly returned the smug grin.

"I'm more than just Carm's friend."

"That was then. This is now. So why don't just see yourself to the door, and let yourself out. 'Carm' won't be needing you any more. I'm the man of this house now."

Through clenched teeth, Sly growled, "You bastard! I'll…" Feeling dizzy, Sly staggered backwards a couple of quick steps. As the room began to spin, the raccoon's eyes rolled back into his head, as his body pitched forward.

Lunging towards the falling intruder the fox caught him before he could fall painfully onto the floor.

Heading for the couch with the unconscious raccoon draped over his shoulders, he sighed. "Well this is a change of pace. So much for a quiet evening at home."

**Ghostkid33, and bestpersonyouwilleverknow, I hope you're not too terribly disappointed with what upset Sly. **

**This is just the beginning for our hero.  
**


	3. Chapter 3

**I don't own Sly Cooper or the rest of the gang. I meant to post this a couple of days ago, but got hit with a killer migraine. Sorry for the delay, and honestly I'm still a little unsatisfied with this chapter, but the next chapter is ready and will be posted in about three days if this migraine lets up.  
**

_A moonlit night in Paris_. _A romantic evening for two_. _The couple_, _a raccoon in a tuxedo_, _and a fox in a low cut gown_, _gaze lost into one another's eyes._ _Embraced in a slow dance on a penthouse balcony_, _moving fluidly as one_. _Completely in sync_, _as they move and sway to the music that plays only in their hearts._

_Breaking the comfortable silence, the raccoon's muzzle curled into his most charming grin. "It's been too long since your last night off Inspector."_

_Returning his grin with one of her own, she sighed. "Working long hours with no appreciation, is just one of the many perks that go along with being a policewoman."_

"_You work entirely too hard, and before you get defensive about it, you know I'm right."_

"_I do not get defensive. I just happen to be dedicated to my work. It's what I'm good at."_

_Widening his grin, he reached for her hand. "If you'll just retract you claws, and ease up on my shoulder, we'll change the subject." Her grip loosened. As the pain lessened he smirked. "You know Carmelita, I can think of something else that you're really good at."_

_The vixen rolled her eyes_. "_Is that all you ever think about_?"

"_How can I possibly think about anything else when I'm this close to you. And anyway I've noticed the way you've been looking at me all evening."_

_Carmelita looked shocked. "I don't know what you're talking about."_

"_Don't deny it. You've been leering at me like a predator eyeing her prey."_

"_Cooper, what am I going to do with you?" _

"_Use your imagination, I'm sure you'll think of something."_

Meanwhile back in the world of the awake, a young male fox looks on in disgust. Staring at the thief stretched out on the bed, the fox shakes his head trying to dislodge the images put there by the raccoon's unconscious mumblings. Brought back to reality by the muffled voice trying to get his attention back to the telephone, "I'm sorry, what?… No, I'm still here, how quickly can you get here?… No, I didn't tell him anything... He just, kind of assumes… Just hurry."

Ending the call he drops into the chair in the room's corner to keep an eye on his guest. _What did she ever see in this guy?_

Lost in his thoughts, he didn't notice the raccoon's finger twitch. A knock at the door quickly got his attention. Jumping from the chair he grabbed the thief's hat and cane as he headed for the door. Almost as an afterthought he turned around and grabbed one of the framed pictures from the nightstand. Exiting the bedroom he quietly closed the door behind him, and dashed to front door to answer the knock. Pulling open the door, he was relieved to see the two he had been waiting for.

Before he had time to invite them in, the big pink hippo's face lit up as he shouted, "That's Sly's cane!"

"I thought you'd want some proof. So I took these after he zonked out."

"Where is he? SLY, ARE YOU HERE?" The hippo shouted excitedly.

"Calm down Murray, he's asleep in the bedroom.", the fox pleaded.

"C'mon Bentley, let's go see Sly!" The hippo bounded inside.

A mechanical tentacle shot forward from the turtle's wheelchair, grabbing the back of the hippo's shirt.

"Hold it Murray!"

"But Bentley we found him."

The turtle shook his head, as his nasally voice chimed in, "Think about it for a second Murray."

The reptile looked at the fox, "How does he look…" Bentley paused for a second. "And what does he know?"

"He looks the same as he does in the pictures you showed me. And... I didn't get a chance to tell him anything before he passed out."

The turtle sighed heavily. "I think you should prepare him, before he sees us."

"Are you sure, maybe you could just call him on the phone, then you could explain everything yourself."

The turtle glared. "Go explain the situation!"

Gritting his teeth the fox whined, "But he talks in his sleep. He keeps moaning _Oh, Carmelita. _I don't want to hear that."

"Just tell him. After you tell him we'll take it from there."

"Alright, but you'd better take this, I grabbed it before he saw it." He handed the picture to the turtle and turned around, twirling the cane as he reluctantly headed back to the bedroom.

Back in the bedroom, Sly was regaining consciousness. Grey eyelids fluttered open at the sound of Murray calling his name. Slowly the fog dissipated, as his eyes focused on his surroundings. The room was familiar, it was instantly recognizable, but it was somehow different. He sat up, and threw his legs over the side of the bed. As he stood, he grabbed the picture from the nightstand. _She keeps a picture of me beside a bed she shares with someone else! This is too much. She has…_ The sound of the door opening sent the master thief into stealth mode.

Stepping into the room the first thing the fox noticed was the room's missing occupant. Confusion clouded his judgment as he began to look around for the raccoon. Before he knew what hit him the silent thief pounced.

Hearing the scuffle, the turtle and hippo bolted to the bedroom. Murray charged the door tearing it from it's hinges.

**I'll probably edit this one quite a bit when I'm feeling better. The next couple of chapters explain a lot and get into some rivalry for our hero.**

**Thanks for reading. And I hope you're not too disappointed with the direction this story is taking so far.**


	4. Chapter 4

**I don't own Sly Cooper or the rest of the gang. Sorry it took so long to get this posted. **

The silent thief pounced, knocking the fox onto his back. Grabbing the cane still clutched by the fox, Sly pushed down, pinning his opponent to the floor. As they both struggled for dominance, and possession of the Cooper family heirloom, the fox growled, "You don't see it, do you Cooper?"

Sly growled, "See what? That you've taken my place with Carmelita. I won't give her up that easily!" As he pushed down harder on the cane, he got a closer look at his rival. There was something so familiar about him.

The pressure on his chest making a witty retort impossible, the young fox scrambled to pull his legs up to his torso. Struggling for every bit of leverage he could wrestle away from the raccoon, he managed to position his feet against the thief's chest. Summoning all his strength he tightened his grip on the cane and quickly extended his legs, sending Sly soaring over the bed.

Adjusting his position in midair with a twist and a flip, Sly landed on his feet. "You look barely old enough to drive, there's no way she could want you more than me, pal" The normally calm raccoon was finding it difficult to not completely lose his temper.

"I'm old enough to thrash you!" the fox growled, as he swung the cane at his opponent.

Sly quickly ducked the blow. '_That face… where have I seen it before? Can't…' _Nimble reflexes honed through years of thievery dodged another attack. Swing after swing was quickly avoided.

Both took a fighting stance as they sought an opening to attack.

Sizing up his opponent, an idea took shape in the fox's mind. '_He's too strong for me to overpower.. If I piss him off he won't be able to concentrate. I might stand a chance.' "You know, Ringtail…" _

_Hearing Carmelita's special nickname for him was too much. He gritted his teeth._

_The fox paused noticing the change in the raccoon's expression, he'd hit an emotional nerve. "A certain Inspector said that you we're handsome and charming." Despite the situation he kept his voice calm and level, as he grinned at Sly. "But… now that I've met you… I just don't see it." Noticing the anger flare in the thief's eyes, he made his move. Gripping the cane horizontally in front of him, he charged forward, hoping to pin the raccoon, and gain the upper hand, at least long enough to explain everything without the interruption of being tackled._

_Standing his ground, the thief planted his feet, stopping the fox's advance. Nose to nose with his snarling orange furred adversary, Sly's muzzle turned into a grin. He tightened his grip on his cane, gave a shove forward and a swift yank back. With the fox distracted by the sound of footsteps outside the door, Sly quickly jumped, and using both feet kicked the fox in the belly, sending him flying. _

_Caught off guard by the thief's actions, the fox was bewildered as he was thrown. As he fell the last thing that his mind registered was the sound of wood splintering as the bedroom's door was torn from its frame. The side of his head made contact with the dresser, as the world went black._

_Just a few miles away Inspector Carmelita Fox closed the file folder containing the details of the case that she had been working on. It had been almost two weeks since she had been home. She had been on assignment in Italy for what was supposed to be surveillance to gather enough evidence to put a gangster behind bars for life. What had promised to be a long, dull assignment, ended abruptly when the suspect had been stupid enough to start an argument with an ice cream vendor. A quarrel over sprinkles had been a very unlucky break (resisting arrest had been painful to say the least) for an oversized gator with a sweet tooth. That had been hours ago. The paper work finally finished, she grabbed her keys and locked the office door behind her._

_Back at Carmelita's apartment, Bentley and Murray stepped through the remains of the doorway just in time to see Sly leaning heavily on his cane._

_The hippo's face lit up. "Sly, is it really you?" _

_The raccoon looked up at the sound of his name. Standing in the rubble were his two closest friends. But something seemed different. Unable to place it, he shrugged it off. "Who else would I be, big guy?" _

_Noting the confusion on the raccoon's face, Bentley's nasally voice asked, "Where's Gus?"_

_Sly wrinkled his brow, "Who?…Oh… the fox." Sly pointed to the other side of the room. "He's over there on the floor." He paused. "Gus, his name is Gus! Carmelita traded me in for a Gus!"_

"_Traded you in? You think that…," Murray handed the framed picture he had been holding to Sly, as he went to check on the unconscious fox._

_As he looked at the picture his jaw dropped. "This has to be a bad dream. I hit my head, maybe this is my mind's way of paying me back for lying about having amnesia." Sly limped over to a chair in the corner, sat down, and continued staring at the picture. "I just have to wake up, and everything will be back to normal." _

_The turtle and hippo exchanged knowing glances as the raccoon continued mumbling to himself. "Murray, I'll explain the situation to Sly, if you'll take care of Gus." _

_The fox groaned as Murray picked him up, carried him to the living room, and placed him gently on the couch. Murray carefully looked him over before heading to the kitchen for the first aid kit. _

_Sly's brow wrinkled in confusion. He gazed at the photograph. It was of his two best friends standing on either side of Carmelita and an older male fox. She was holding a small orange bundle in her arms._

"_Bentley,…". "How could this happen? When did she find time to move on without me?"_

_Bentley wheeled over to the crestfallen raccoon and sighed._

_Sly, what's the last thing you remember before waking up here?"_

"_All I can remember is swearing vengeance against Le Paradox as the blimp broke apart. Then I woke up in an alley." He leaned forward with his face in his hands. "Did I die and go to Hell?" He looked up. "Bentley, what happened?"_

**I was going to reveal more about Gus in this chapter(if I didn't make his identity too obvious yet), but decided to wait until chapter five. It's going to be short, but it'll set up some nice conflict for the rest of the story. I've got a great villain just waiting to be introduced in the near future. **


	5. Chapter 5

**I've got insomnia, and I'm extremely sleep-deprived, so this chapter isn't as good as I hoped it would be. But it's been a while since the last chapter was posted, I hope it's not completely horrible.  
**

Sly Cooper sat staring at Bentley, and waiting for an answer to his question.

The turtle cleared his throat, trying to think of the best way to break the news to his longtime friend. "Sly, Carmelita didn't cheat on you." he patted the raccoon's shoulder. "We waited to hear from you and, when we didn't, we feared the worst. We never gave up. We searched everywhere. We backtracked through time, covering everywhere we went when we chased Le Paradox." He removed his glasses and wiped the lenses with his shirt tail. He looked at the picture in his hand before passing it back to Sly. "Look again. Tell me what you see."

Sly examined the photograph more carefully. "It's of you and Murray, and…Carmelita's family." The last part of the sentence threatened to make him physically ill.

"That's right. It's been awhile since we saw you last." Bentley paused, waiting for the metaphorical light bulb to illuminate above the raccoon's head. After several minutes of silence the turtle continued. "How close were you and Carmelita before she found out you were lying to her?"

Staring blankly into space, Sly opened his mouth to speak. Not able to articulate his thoughts, he continued to sit silently.

"Speechless is a first for you." After waiting a few seconds for his friend's usual witty retort, and still getting silence, he sighed. "Just nod your head if you understand."

The raccoon sat motionless.

"Can you hear me, Sly?"

The thief nodded.

"Pay attention Sly. It gets complicated. Carmelita does have a son."

Nod.

"You're not taking any of this in are you?"

Another nod.

"Aaargh!" The turtle grabbed the raccoon's shoulders, and gave him a quick shake. "You're not listening! Wake up and pay attention!"

After several failed attempts at speaking, the confused raccoon managed to mutter. "I'm listening, Bentley."

"You're listening, but are you hearing me? Is this starting to make sense to you yet?"

"I, uh, think so."

"Where did I leave off?"

"Carmelita's son…" The raccoon felt his heart sink. "Bentley, did she marry the father?"

The turtle grinned at the thief's lack of knowledge on the subject. "No. In fact, he doesn't know he has a son.

"How could he not know? He's in the picture!" The thought of his vixen ending up with some deadbeat was infuriating. How anyone could treat her that way? "She deserves better, Bentley!"

The turtle's grin grew wider. "Brace yourself, Sly… That is not a recent picture, and you're in the one place we didn't think to look for you."

The raccoon furrowed his brow, as his anger was replaced with confusion.

"It didn't occur to us that you could have traveled forward in time." Not getting any response, Bentley continued. "That photograph was taken fifteen years ago. Are you keeping up with me?"

Once again the thief nodded.

Keeping his tone calm, the nasally voice continued, "The man in the picture is her father. And Gus isn't your rival for Carmelita, he's her son"

Sly stared at him blankly.

"The last time you saw Inspector Fox she was pregnant. YOU are that boy's father."

Sly jumped out of his chair as reality belted him in the gut. "That's impossible! I just saw you guys! There wasn't time for…

Bentley interrupted, "Time is the key. Remember Sly… the blimp was a time machine… it must have malfunctioned before it disintegrated."

The raccoon traced his fingertips along the golden 'C' of his cane. "Does the boy know?"

Bentley nodded. "Carmelita told him everything."

"The way he was trying to goad me, I didn't get the impression that he was happy to see me. What exactly did she tell him?"

"The truth. He knows more about you, than you do."

Sly's eyes grew as big as dinner plates. "Bentley, I just knocked out my own kid. I've gotta make sure he's alright." He headed for the living room, with the turtle rolling close behind.

The pink hippo was putting the First-Aid kit away when he saw Sly bolt from the bedroom. Murray looked at Bentley. "Did you tell him?"

"He knows." The turtle said as he pointed to the raccoon kneeling by the couch as he stared at the fox lying there.

Murray called to the new father. "It's just a bump, he's fine, just sleeping."

Sly"s tail flicked nervously as he looked the fox over. Relief washed over him as he heard the hippo's news. He reached out slowly to touch his son's forehead, but was deterred by the orange paw that shot up, and clutched his throat.

The unconscious fox had a death grip on the raccoon's neck. As he tried to dislodge the obstruction to his windpipe, Sly motioned for the advancing turtle and hippo to stay put. Like a bolt of lightning the solution hit him. If this kid looks like Carmelita, maybe he inherited some of her other traits. He stopped trying to pry the hand open, and instead lifted the boy's shirt and gently tickled his side.

Releasing his hold, Gus rolled onto his side and, still asleep, buried his face in the sofa.

Bentley and Murray rushed over to Sly.

"How did you know that would work?" Murray asked.

Sly grinned. "He has his mother's reflexes. Every time she grabs me like that, a quick tickle does the trick."

Bentley, eyebrow raised, stared at the thief. "Strangle you often, did she?"

"Let's just say that you don't want to try to wake her from a sound sleep, or get a little too frisky when she isn't in the mood."

At the sight of his wolfish grin the hippo and turtle exchanged glances and shook their heads. This raccoon was definitely Sly Cooper.

Still grinning, Sly asked, "Since we're on the subject, where IS Carmelita?"

"Stakeout. She'll be back tomorrow night." Bentley replied as he rolled towards the kitchen.

"That gives you a whole day to clean up what's left of Carmelita's bedroom." Murray chuckled, "and while you're at it you'd better start thinking of an excuse for the lump on Gus' head.

Sly's grin disappeared. "She named my son Gus, maybe she should be the one making up an excuse."

Bentley returned from the kitchen with a broom. "It's short for Augustine. He's named after her grandfather, and one of your ancestors." Handing the broom to Sly he pointed to the bedroom. "You should get started. It's a disaster in there."

**Thanks for reading. I hope you're not too disappointed with the way this story is heading. Next chapter throws Carmelita into the reunion. **


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